SADDLEWORTH'S first team tops the North Ainley Oldham Cricket Development indoor under-11s league as they remain unbeaten three games into the season.

SADDLEWORTH'S first team tops the North Ainley Oldham Cricket Development indoor under-11s league as they remain unbeaten three games into the season.

Their latest match brought a 39-run victory over Shaw, following on from their 79-run defeat of Royton's first team.

They went back to basics to register a 25-run triumph over Heyside with Connor Casey and Connor McGeary conceding three runs between them from the final two overs of Heyside's reply.

The previous week had seen Heyside lose by six runs against Delph's first team despite making 231-3 as fine composure with the bat saw Delph compile 237-1.

With teams penalised five runs for every wicket they lose, Delph's emphasis on guarding the stumps again paid off as they only lost one wicket in defeating Oldham by 16 runs, their opponents losing seven to reduce their reply to 226.

Greenfield were victorious against Shaw, while Royton's seconds registered their first victory by a margin of seven runs against Uppermill.

Both sides lost four wickets with Michael Wilkinson's 26 the top score for Royton who secured victory thanks to Alex Farrell's run out.